Coming Home
by Peacelovecheer36279
Summary: Quil's cousin Megan comes to live at LaPush and runs into her old best friend Embry Call. Little does she know, hes now a werewolf. Embry/OC imprinting story..first fanfic plz read! ratings may change as story goes on...reviews much appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Reunion

I could see the breeze off the Pacific rippling through the trees, so I rolled down my window to take in the cool, salty air. It was good to be back. Back to a place where my dark skin and hair were the norm, not an oddity. A place where Ateara wasn't a strange last name and where, with any luck, I could start over and forget all about the last few months.

LaPush was home, always had been. Sure, I would miss Denver with its bright lights and bustling city streets, but LaPush was where I'd grown up, where I'd made my first, and best, friends. LaPush was where I belonged.

It had taken a long hard battle to get here. Two weeks in the hospital recouping from the accident that killed my mom. The accident that I should have died in. Two weeks spent missing her and dreading the day that I would be sent home to live with my deadbeat dad.

Living with Dad would have been heck, to put it mildly. He had never been around, and when I was forced to spend time with him, he treated me like his personal slave. So, I called Mom's dad, Grandpa Quil, to take me home to live with him. After a three month long custody battle, the judge decided that, at sixteen, I was old enough to decide where I wanted to live.

* * *

><p>So here I was, pulling into my Grandfather's driveway, my shiny Ford a standout between Grandpa's old car and my cousin Quil's dusty pickup. I parked the car and got out. Quil ran outside and grabbed me into a big bear hug.<p>

"Megan! I missed you cuz!" he yelled.  
>"Missed you too Quil," I choked out, gasping for breath.<p>

Quil just laughed. "Grandpa's not here, but he said you can go ahead and put your stuff in your room. Here, I'll help." Quil grabbed my heavy boxes and sprinted into the house and up the stairs.

I grabbed a box and slowly walked into a house I knew well. To my left was a single door that led into my grandfather's room, and to my right, an archway led into the living room and kitchen. I walked straight up the stairs, only to be met halfway by Quil.

"I'll get the rest," he told me, bounding down the stairs. I wondered when he'd gotten so strong, and tall too! He must have been 6'2 or 6'3!

I was interrupted from my thoughts by Quil saying, "You can unpack your stuff later. C'mon, we're meeting everyone at Emily's".

"Wait, Emily Young?"  
>"Yea, but she looks a little… well, different. She was mauled by a bear about a year or so back."<br>"Omigosh that's terrible!"  
>"Yeah but don't stare, Sam hates it,"<br>"Sam as in Leah's Sam?"  
>"He's Emily's Sam now but yeah. C'mon Megs lets go."<p>

* * *

><p>We drove to Emily's in virtual silence. Four shirtless, tanned boys and three beautiful girls came out of the house as soon as they heard the engine.<p>

Three of the boys crowded around me. Jared, Jake, and Paul each gave me a huge hug, picking me up and swinging me around in the process. The three of them had always been like older brothers to me, so I put up with the good-natured taunts of "little sis". They, like Quil, had done a little growing up in the past two years. When had my "big brothers" gotten quite so big?

I walked up the stairs onto the porch. Quil was right, Emily's scars were terrible, but she was still Emily. I gave her a big hug and smiled at Sam, who was standing next to her.

The girl on Emily's other side was unfamiliar.

"Hi I'm Kim," she said. "I'm Jared's…girlfriend"  
>I caught the pause but said nothing. "Nice to meet you, I'm Quil's cousin Megan", I said, hugging her.<p>

I stepped back from Kim and looked over at a glaring Leah Clearwater. Oh joy seemed as though nothing had changed between us while I was gone.

Ever since I came home the summer I was fourteen, Leah had hated me, and I had absolutely no idea why. The boys told me not to worry about it, that Leah hated everyone, but still it unnerved me a bit. I felt genuinely sorry for Leah, since I'd heard of her Dad's passing, but since she obviously still despised me, I refrained from offering my sympathy.

Emily broke our staring contest of sorts by ushering us all inside the house. As I sat on the comfortable couch between Quil and Jake, I realized that someone was missing.

* * *

><p>Embry Call had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. He was the youngest of the group of boys that I grew up with, and always defended me when the older guys were mean. He stuck up for me and before long we were inseparable. Even though we lived hundreds of miles apart, I was still closer to Embry than anyone else on the planet. We used to call or text each other all the time, but over the past few months, he'd grown strangely distant, and I hadn't heard from him since about a month after the accident.<p>

Now he didn't even care enough to come see me when I moved home? That was like a punch in the chest, and I felt myself tearing up as I asked, "Where's Embry?"

"Late, as usual," Paul crowed from the chair opposite us.  
>Quil saw that I was upset, and reassured me with a " Don't worry Megs, he's coming."<p>

Just then, the door opened and slammed shut, and Embry's voice came floating in from the entryway.  
>"Sorry guys, Mom was chewing me out, again"<p>

"It's alright Embry," Sam said, but in a voice that made me think that Sam was going to chew him out later. But why would Sam do that? Why did Sam have any right to do that? I wasn't quite sure.

"Hey is Megs here yet?" Embry asked.  
>"Right here," I called out.<br>"Hey, how are ya? Glad to be home?"

Before I could answer, he bounded around the corner and into the living room with a "I mis-"; he froze, stopping mid-sentence to stare at me, a dumbfounded expression on his face.

Then everything happened so quickly I didn't really have time to comprehend it. Paul and Jared grabbed Embry and tried to haul him out the back door. He struggled, letting out what sounded almost like a growl, and began to shake uncontrollably.

"Get her out of here NOW!" Sam yelled to Quil and Jake as he helped Jared and Paul drag a still shaking Embry outside.

Apparently neither Quil nor Jake has good judgment in bad situations, because did they put me in the truck and take me home? No they each grabbed one of my arms and hauled me about a mile into the woods.

They sat me on a flat rock in the middle of an unfamiliar clearing and told me "Don't move," before running off into the woods, leaving me completely alone and wondering what the heck just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: What exactly is in These Woods Anyway?

I sat there on the rock, dwelling on all the strange things that had happened that day. I mean, first I come home to my friends and find them all incredibly strong and tall. Which, granted, they were teenage guy and were bound to grow, but seriously? They all looked about twenty-five or so.

Then, my best friend is late to my homecoming "party" because his mom was chewing him out? Embry never got in trouble. Never. And when he finally gets there, he barely even talks to me before he starts shaking. And instead of being worried, Sam just has them drag him away? And since when did Sam have authority anyways?

But strangely, none of that stuck in my head. What did was the fact that Embry had _growled._ I mean seriously growled. And even weirder than a growling boy, was the fact that I was sure that I heard that same growl outside. Except that it couldn't have been Embry because it sounded, well like dogs or something fighting. Why would Embry sound like a dog_?_

I was startled by the sound of a soft noise behind me. I turned slowly, and saw a gigantic gray wolf standing behind me. I sat still, and the wolf didn't move toward me. In fact, it just whined and lay down. It was, well not scarred, exactly, but hurt, as if the poor thing had been in a fight and the wounds hadn't quite healed yet. I'm a sucker for animals, no matter how big and dangerous looking, so I walked slowly over to the wolf. I sat down beside it, cautiously, because I wasn't quite sure how the thing would react.

The poor thing just lifted its head and whined again, before shifting and placing its huge head in my lap. I stroked its ears, looking into its large, almost human brown eyes. Eyes that looked very familiar. No, I had to be imagining things. I moved a bit to examine its wounds, but they weren't there. Not as in I wasn't looking in the right place, but they simply weren't there! I was so sure the poor animal was hurt, that was why I came over here, but I supposed it didn't matter, the wolf certainly wasn't about to let me move now.

So I went back to simply stroking its ears. I buried my hands in the thick ruff of fur around the wolf's neck. Something about this felt so simple, so perfect. Almost as if the wolf was mine. Well he was now anyway. I had seen in a paper this morning that people had been hunting wolves in the forest around LaPush, but there was no way a wolf this gentle had killed someone, and so nothing was going to happen to my wolf.

The wolf raised its head and growled in the direction of the woods. I jumped at the sound, ready to run from the wolf when it showed signs of aggression, but it just jumped to its feet, licked my face, and ran away. I scrambled back to sit on the rock as loud crashing noises echoed through the woods coming my direction. Then Jared, Paul, Jake, and Quil burst through the tree line.

"Megan! Are you alright?" Quil asked me, cradling me in a hug like he thought I'd been in danger.

"Yea, I'm fine" I told him, confused.  
>"You didn't see…anything?" He asked, clearly unwilling to tell me what I may or may not have seen.<br>Just a giant friendly wolf, I was tempted to say. However, something told me I should keep the wolf to myself, at least for a while. "No. I didn't see anything. Why, should I have?"  
>"NO!" Quil said loudly, "I'm glad you didn't see anything".<p>

Sam came through the trees and spoke. "Quil, take Megan home. We'll have someone keep watch."

"Okay Sam" Quil said, "C'mon Megs"

I followed Quil out of the woods in silence, except the occasional "Ow!" when I tripped over a stick or stump. When we got to the truck, I asked "so what was wrong with Embry today?"

"Oh, he's just been really stressed lately. When he gets really upset or something, he…blows up. He'll be okay"

"Oh, is it-"  
>"No Megs, it's not your fault, it's nobody's fault"<br>"Good"

Quil and I pulled up to Grandpa's house, so I ran inside to give him a hug. It was getting late by now-I'd been in the woods for at least an hour, so before long I told Quil and Grandpa goodnight at headed up to bed.

All night, I kept hearing quiet noises around my window. Animals running, and the occasional growl. Once I heard a whine that sounded like the wolf from today. I got up and looked outside. Nothing, although once I thought I saw the shadow of a long furry tail. After watching for about an hour, I went back to bed and drifted into a fitful sleep, dreaming about Embry and giant gray wolves.

Every day for the next several, I found time to sneak off to the woods by myself. And each and every day I found my wolf waiting for me. Sometimes, I would talk to the wolf, tell him about my mom dying, and my dad, about how terrible the custody battle had been, and call me crazy, but sometimes it seemed like he was _listening. _Insane, I know, but it really seemed as if those strangely familiar eyes were looking at me with sympathy, and he would whine at all the right moments. But if those times spent leaning against my wolf were the best part of my day, they weren't the strangest. No, that would be when the guys came over every night, and they would hang out until I went to bed, but then they started arguing. I guess they thought I couldn't hear, but I knew. They were saying something about Embry, who had been notably absent ever since _that day_.

They would argue for a couple hours, using terms that I didn't understand. Like pack, and imprint. Words I knew, used in a very weird context. But they didn't seem to ever discuss a solution. Until the night, about ten days after I got home, when Embry showed up, half way into their argument.

"Embry we told you to stay away", Jake said, puffing out his chest to look menacing. All the boys stood up, and I shrank back behind the banister even farther to avoid being seen.

"Why Jake? Why don't I have as much right to her as Quil does to Claire, or Jared to Kim". "Because she's my cousin!"

"So? Emily was Leah's too. Quil do you think I planned this? Do you think I wanted it to happen? Of course not, but it has. She deserves to know. I owe her that, you owe her that."

Quil lowered his head, ashamed. "Okay. You can tell her, but only if me and Jake are there. We can take care of her if she freaks. Make it easier on her."

"Thank you. Okay tomorrow ten o'clock, in the clearing."

"see you then. Now go, get some sleep."

"You too, Night"

"Night"

Okay now I was confused. What did Embry need to tell me? Why was it such a big deal? And just how bad a freak out were Jake and Quil expecting? Was it that bad? I didn't sleep a wink that night, anticipating a major conversation with Embry in the morning. What I didn't anticipate was that life as I knew it, was all about to be blown to you-know-where.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Explanations

I lay in bed, tossing and turning all night in anticipation of the talk Embry, Quil, Jake, and I would be having tomorrow. What could Embry have to say that would freak me out that badly? What secret were my "big brothers" all hiding from me? I finally got out of bed at about eight and went downstairs to grab some breakfast.

After I ate I put on some jeans and a buttonup shirt, rolling the sleeves to my elbows. Hey, no law against looking cute when you go to have some major, freak-out worthy talk. At about nine thirty, Quil and Jake showed up.

"Hey Megan? Lets go out to the clearing" Quil said, not offering any other explanation.  
>"Okay, let me grab some shoes," I said, grabbing some boots. I rode out to Emily's with the boys, then followed them out to the clearing.<p>

My wolf was waiting. I ran out to it a buried my hands in its ruff. Jake and Quil stared at me dumbfounded at my obvious familiarity with the wolf.

"Megan", Quil said, "How do you know that wolf?"  
>"I come out here almost every day," I said, " it's always here, so I'm pretty used to it".<br>"Megan that's what we're here to talk about. Do you know the legends of the tribe?"  
>"The ones about the spirit warriors and us being descended from wolves?"<br>"Those and the ones about the wolves fighting the cold ones"  
>"You mean vampires? Yea I guess I know the legends. Why?"<br>"Well Megan, we brought you out here to tell you, they're all true."  
>"True? Yea right Quil great joke." It was then that I noticed the bags of clothes and towels the boys had brought with them. "What are those for?"<br>"To help us prove it to you" With that, Quil leaped forward and transformed into a giant, chocolate-colored wolf. A wolf that was very similar to mine.

I whipped around and looked at the gray wolf. "So who are you?" I asked, a little ticked. "What one of you boys has been sitting and listening to my deepest darkest secrets every day and said nothing?

"Uh Megan?"  
>"Yea?"<br>" For one, why have you been telling your deepest darkest secrets to a wolf? And two, I think he wants you to turn around so you won't see...you know anything when he phases." Jake tossed a bag of clothes to the wolf, who caught it in his mouth and sat it carefully on the ground. Quil was back in human form and said, "Your taking this really well, doing a good job."  
>"Okay," Jake said.<p>

I turned around and saw Embry standing there looking sheepish. "Embry? So you couldn't just come and hang out with me, you had to come see me in your giant wolf form?"  
>"They wouldn't let me come see you, they were afraid I'd let something slip"<br>"Something about what?"  
>"Have you heard the legend of the third wife? The 'imprinting' legend?"<br>"Yea I've heard it, why?"  
>"Wolves do imprint Megan."<p>

I realized what he meant with a gasp. " You imprinted on me!"

"Yea sorta", Embry said.

"So what? I don't even get a choice? We just get a happily ever after and I have absolutely no choice in it at all?"

"No! Of course not!" Quil said. "You absolutely get a choice. You don't have to do this if you don't want too Megs."

But did I want to? I wasn't sure. I mean, Embry had been my best friend for years, and now I finally knew why he'd been so distant from me these last few months, but still. And it wasn't even that I didn't like him like that, I mean, he was georgous. No girl could be around him without entertaining some notions of a whirlwind romance with Embry. But I didn't want it like this. I wanted a choice. I wanted him to choose me. Not be forced to be with me.

Embry interrupted me with an "I'm sorry Megs. I didn't want this either"

Thats when I almost broke down.I choked out a reply, my voice thick. "Oh thats comforting, you didn't want me, but now we're forced together. Great just great."

I turned on my heel and ran to the car, not staying to see if anyone followed.

**A/N: sorry...i know it's short, but with school getting ready to start back I'm sooo super busy...next chapter will be longer i hope...thanks for reading:) reviews are love:)**


End file.
